JANUARY 9, 2011 FRONT PAGE POLITICS BUSINESS MEDIA ENTERTAINMENT COMEDY SPORTS STYLE WORLD GREEN FOOD TRAVEL TECH LIVING HEALTH DIVORCE ARTS BOOKS RELIGION IMPACT EDUCATION COLLEGE NY LA CHICAGO DENVER BLOGS Michael Giltz Freelance writer and raconteur Posted: December 16, 2010 04:42 AM BIO Become a Fan Get Email Alerts Bloggers' Index 1 3 views 0 2Inspiring Funny Hot Scary Outrageous Amazing Weird CrazyDVDs: Peanuts and Other New Holiday Titles What's Your Reaction: Read More: Chanukah , Charlie Brown , Christmas , Christmas Movies , Dudley Moore , Holiday , Holiday Movies , Peanuts , Rankin Bass , Santa Claus , Entertainment News Okay, you already own It's A Wonderful Life and A Christmas Story and some Rankin Bass.</p><p> But maybe you need a new title or two to spruce up your holiday DVD collection.</p><p> Here are some recent releases to consider: PEANUTS HOLIDAY COLLECTION ($42.98 BluRay or $39.98 regular; Warner Bros.) -- Okay, if MOST POPULAR ON HUFFPOST 1 of 2 BIG NEWS: Movies | Celebrity Kids | Rihanna | Mila Kunis | Smarter Ideas | More...</p><p> Democratic Rep.</p><p> Shot, Federal Judge Killed At Public Event Suspected Arizona Shooter Identified: Disturbing YouTube Videos, MySpace GOP Congresswoman Caught In Sexually Suggestive Photos What Not To Say When Your Loved One Is Upset How To Tell If It's Really Food: A Flowchart Marty Kaplan The "Lock and Load" Rhetoric of American Politics Isn't Just a Metaphor Sarah Palin Renounces Arizona Shooting Facebook Shutdown Rumors Go Viral Olbermann: 'Put The Gun Metaphors Away' LOG IN | SIGN UP SHARE THIS STORY Get Entertainment Alerts Email Comments 2 Recommend 41K Recommend 8K Like 809 Like 986 Like 9K Like 3K Like 12K Recommend 18K you own any TV specials at all you probably own one of the previous DVD collections that features the classic A Charlie Brown Christmas.</p><p> But the myriad Peanuts specials have been packaged and repackaged so many times it's impossible to keep track of them all.</p><p> So what's the draw here? Well, BluRay of course,not to mention a deluxe version with a snowglobe and some other doodads.</p><p> The prints have always beentaken care of by Warner Bros., so the improvement of these very old TV shows isn't dramatic, but they dolook good.</p><p> The sale price of the BluRay edition costs almost TWICE as much as the regular DVDs, which is ridiculous.</p><p> After all these years, just give us one definitive set of every Peanuts special ever made and be done with it.</p><p> If money is no object and for some reason you don't already own that Peanuts classic,this set contains it and It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown (their other major classic), A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving and three bonus specials.</p><p> THE YEAR WITHOUT A SANTA CLAUS ($24.98; Warner Bros.) -- One of the best Rankin/Bass specials, you wouldn't know it by the packaging but this set also contains the so-so Nestor, The Long- Eared Christmas Donkey and Rudolph's Shiny New Year.</p><p> Add in some extras and you've got about two hours of entertainment.</p><p> Of course, if your kids aren't around you'll just jump to "Heat Miser" and sing along.</p><p> BluRay looks better but not dramatically so; no surprise on such old titles made for TV.</p><p> A CHRISTMAS CAROL ($39.99; Disney) -- I'm still not down with director Robert Zemeckis and his modern spin on rotoscoping -- live actors do a scene and then it gets animated.</p><p> As with his earlier film The Polar Express, the animated characters seem stiff and a little dead in the eyes.</p><p> The work is improved but still not ready for prime time.</p><p> However, overlooked in the technological boundary-pushing is the factthat Jim Carrey gives one of his best performances in years as Scrooge.</p><p> His work is subtle, funny, menacing and real.</p><p> Too bad it's hidden in a film that thinks the timeless classic by Charles Dickens needs jazzing up by shrinking down Scrooge and send him rocketing down streets or up into the night sky.Absurd. 1 of 5 Michael R.</p><p> Bloomberg On the Tragic Shootings in Arizona Michael Smerconish Thoughts on YesterdayDON'T MISS HUFFPOST BLOGGERS HOT TRENDS TOP VIDEO PICKS 1 of 9 john goodman lost 100 pounds kim zolciak pregnant miley cyrus lap dance video natalie portman pregnant nicolas cage More Celebrity News at People.com More Celebrity News at Popeater.com Like 10K Jake Gyllenhaal Praises (and Teases) Pregnant Natalie Portman READ MORE Neil Patrick Harris Is Smitten With Twins' Smiles READ MORE Report: Las VegasShowgirl's Body Was Dismembered READ MORE Phaedra Parks Chats With PopEater Joan and Melissa Rivers Retire From Red Carpet Victoria Beckham Expecting Baby No. 4 IT'S A VERY MERRY MUPPET CHRISTMAS ($14.98; Universal) -- A Muppet spin on It's A Wonderful Life with Kermit finding out that indeed the world would have been worse off if he had never been a little tadpole, not better.</p><p> The draw here for this so-so Muppet entry is a nine song CD with thegang caroling through holiday standards like "Deck The Halls." SANTA CLAUS: THE MOVIE ($14.98; Lionsgate) -- A stodgy precursor to the Will Ferrell comedy Elf (which is quite good), Santa Claus: The Movie fails on several levels.</p><p> First, a movie about Santa Claus shouldn't spend half the film focusing on an elf, even if the elf is played by Dudley Moore.</p><p> On the other hand, trying to recapture the magic of Superman: The Movie by replicating the formula of that classicfilm.</p><p> Unfortunately, rather than elevating the Superman myth by treating it like an epic, almost Christ- like origin story, doing the same with Santa Claus just seems tiresome and vaguely absurd.</p><p> Still with me? Probably not.</p><p> And the movie doesn't hold your attention any better.</p><p> PHINEAS AND FERB: A VERY PERRY CHRISTMAS ($19.99; Warner Bros.) -- This is a good bargain: you get an amusing P&F Christmas special along with a batch of other episodes and a welcome number of extras like a karaoke function that lets you sing along with Perry, Christmas wish lists for all the characters and more.</p><p> Cheeky humor with pop cultural references put this in the Looney Tunes vein.The only shame is that fans of the show don't have the option to purchase an entire season of episodes.But kids shows almost always seem to get divvied up into multiple sets for some reason.</p><p> Queen's Royal Wedding Rift Kourtney K.'s StunningBikini Bod Jane Krakowski RevealsBaby Bump MOST DISCUSSED RIGHT NOW HOT ON FACEBOOK HOT ON TWITTER NFL Eliot Spitzer Video Hockey Jerry Brown Eat The PressHUFFPOST'S BIG NEWS PAGESVictoria Beckham Pregnant: To Have Fourth Child With Soccer Star David Beckham 135 Comments 'True Grit' Wins Box Office With $15 Million Weekend 42 Comments Camille Grammer's Porn Past Comes Back To Haunt Her 1,112 Comments PHOTO: Adam Levine Goes Nude 250 Comments Ashton Kutcher: Training, Paranoid About Real Life 'End Of Days' 905 Comments Bill Murray Crashes Stranger's Karaoke Party 66 CommentsVideos Web Images NATIVITY! ($14.98; Freestyle) -- Decent family fare that mixes Glee with the holidays by having a hapless high school teacher mount a musical Nativity special.</p><p> The main draw here is Martin Freeman, charming as always.</p><p> He's enshrined forever thanks to the UK version of The Office, but when you toss in the current modern spin on Sherlock Holmes (he plays Dr.</p><p> Watson) an the upcoming film(s) The Hobbit,with Freeman as Bilbo Baggins, and you've got a genuine pop culture icon in the making.</p><p> This doesn'tspruce up his resume but it's no embarrassment either.</p><p> ALSO OUT:NUTCRACKER SWEET ($14.98; Lionsgate) -- My little friend Katie Rose absolutely LOVES Angelina Ballerina and she's sure to eat this up when I give it to her.</p><p> Reviews are meaningless in this context.</p><p> MERRY CHRISTMAS, OLIVIA ($16.99; Paramount) -- I'm a big fan of the Olivia books by Ian Falconer but still can't quite buy Olivia in this computer-animated version.</p><p> Still, the holidays bring out the pushy best in Olivia.</p><p> TWAS THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS ($19.98; Warner Bros.) -- The magic of Rankin/Bass did not transfer to animation: stop-motion is the format where they shine.</p><p> Plus, 24 minutes of minor R/B for $20 is simply far too much.</p><p> CHANUKAH: THE MISSING MENORAH ($14.95; Shalom Sesame) -- Grover's bringing the latkas...but where's the menorah? Given the paucity of Jewish-themed holiday specials, this is especially welcome. ***** Thanks for reading.</p><p> Michael Giltz is the cohost of Showbiz Sandbox, a weekly pop culture podcast that reveals the industry take on entertainment news of the day and features top journalists and opinion makers as guests.</p><p> It's available free on iTunes.</p><p> Visit Michael Giltz at his website and his daily blog.</p><p> Download his podcast of celebrity interviews and his radio show, also called Popsurfing and alsoavailable for free on iTunes.</p><p> Link to him on Netflix and gain access to thousands of ratings and reviews .</p><p> NOTE: Michael Giltz is provided with free copies of DVDs to consider for review.</p><p> He typically does notguarantee coverage and invariably receives far more screeners and DVDs than he can cover each week.</p><p> Also, Michael Giltz freelances as a writer of DVD copy (the text that appears on the back of DVDs) for some titles released by IFC and other subsidiaries of MPI.</p><p> It helps pay the rent, but does notobligate him in any way to speak positively or negatively of their titles.</p><p> Follow Michael Giltz on Twitter: www.twitter.com/michaelgiltz Animals Soccer Tea Party MORE BIG NEWS PAGES » FOLLOW HUFFINGTON POST Dailymotion true blood holiday dvd & blu- ray Dailymotion holiday dvd gift giving guide: beyond the trailer YouTube Exclusive! Connie Talbot Holiday Magic DVD TOP LINKS ON THIS TOPIC 1 of 5 Lose holiday pounds with these TV-competition- inspired fitness DVDs | Health | Dallas-Fort Wo...</p><p> American Chronicle | Lose holiday pounds with these TV-competition-inspired fitness DVDs Barney – Learning Pack 6 DVD Set Giveaway | The IE Mommy Comments 2 Pending Comments 0View FAQ Mila Kunis On Kissing Justin Timberlake, Natalie... 'True Grit' Wins Box Office With $15...</p><p> Emotionally Exposed Michelle Williams Awarded a Blue...</p><p> Box Office Review: True Grit Tops, Oscar-Bait...More in Entertainment...</p><p> Recency | Popularity GraceNotes 03:51 PM on 12/20/2010 Michael_Mischin With the arrival of warm weather and the holiday season, I have FREE water safety DVDs to give away to local families http://bit.ly/9cvJrn 30 minutes ago from web JackieSalado Shop Amazon.com Holiday deals now for our lowest prices of the year on select Consumer Electronics, DVDs , Toys... http://amzn.to/f473De 1 hour ago from web Login or connect with: More Login Options Post to Facebook.</p><p> Post to Blogger.</p><p> Post to Twitter.</p><p> Post to WordPress.</p><p> Post to TypePad.</p><p> Post to Tumblr.To reply to a Comment: Click "Reply" at the bottom of the comment; after being approved your comment will appear directly underneath the comment you replied to.</p><p> Share your Comment: Post Comment Preview Comment View All 40 Fans 14 FansI tried to watch A Christmas Carol last night, and was struck immediatel y by how much it reminded me of the animation in Polar Express, which I hated.</p><p> An animated Colin Firth is not a good thing.</p><p> Two serious additions, and one silly: "The Road to Christmas" with Jennifer Grey is fun, funny, and touching.</p><p> It's a kind of Christmas Odyssey that keeps moving and keeps entertaini ng. "Undercove r Christmas" with Jamie Gertz is a simple, enjoyable romp.</p><p> Tine Daly as the acerbic matriarch keepsthe film from becoming too silly.</p><p> Not yet out on DVD, it plays several times over the holiday season.</p><p> When you tire of syrupy Christmas fare, the B-movie "Santa's Slay" ["He's making a list - pray you're not on it!"] is fun after a couple of strong drinks.</p><p> The reindeer from Hell is played by a whitebuffalo! Although the plot is limited and the action drags at times, this spoof is a once-a-yea r treat.</p><p> FRONT PAGE POLITICS BUSINESS MEDIA ENTERTAINMENT COMEDY SPORTS STYLE WORLD GREEN FOOD TRAVEL TECH LIVING HEALTH DIVORCE ARTS BOOKS RELIGION IMPACT EDUCATION COLLEGE NY LA CHICAGO DENVER BLOGS Advertise | Log In | Make HuffPost your Home Page | RSS | Careers | FAQ | Contact Us User Agreement | Privacy | Comment Policy | About Us | Powered by Movable Type Copyright © 2011 TheHuffingtonPost.com, Inc. | "The Huffington Post" is a registered trademark of TheHuffingtonPost.com, Inc.</p><p> All rights reserved.</p><p> Permalink | Share it woodsywizz 06:34 PM on 12/17/2010 Permalink | Share it
